In a surprise move, Ibrahim al-Jaafari has again been nominated as Iraq’s prime minister. More radical members of his Shia Islamist political group, the country's largest, may demand a high price for backing him. This will make it hard to govern with secularists, Sunnis and Kurds0

Votes were being counted on Friday after an encouraging turnout in the previous day's election in Iraq. The poll was free of large-scale violence and saw wide participation by Sunnis. But it will be hard to construct a government that all can accept, and harder still to defeat the insurgency and turn Iraq into something approaching a normal country0

Iraq’s voters have approved its constitution in a referendum, though the vote closely reflected the country’s sectarian divisions. Will the process that is now set to begin draw disaffected Sunnis away from the insurgency and into politics?0

As vote-counting continues following Saturday's surprisingly calm referendum on Iraq’s proposed new constitution, it is looking ever more likely that opponents will not have mustered enough votes to block it. However, despite last-minute concessions to appease them, most Sunni Arabs are still thought to have voted “no”0

Iraq’s parliament has reversed a dubious decision that would have made it almost impossible for voters to reject the country’s proposed new constitution. Though the document still seems likely to be approved in this month’s referendum, splits in the governing coalition are making Iraq’s political future even more uncertain0

In the most deadly incident since America’s invasion of Iraq, an estimated 1,000 Shias have died in a stampede in Baghdad, which Sunni insurgents are suspected of causing. Like the row over the draft constitution, the tragedy will worsen sectarian tension0